After leading wire-to-wire in qualifying and match play, Amanda Greene (pictured above) of Romney, West Virginia, held on to win her first career title Saturday at the 2015 Professional Women's Bowling Association Lincoln Open.

Greene watched as Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, failed to double in the final frame and locked up the title, 214-205, at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A former collegiate standout at Lindenwood, Greene led from the start of qualifying all the way through match play to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals.

"I don't even know what just happened," said Greene. "I'm kind of in shock. I have worked my whole life thinking about winning a title, and I finally got the chance to and wanted to take advantage of it."

Finishing the match first, Greene had a chance to step up and throw a double to win the title but instead left the bucket on her first shot in the final frame. She converted the spare and struck on her fill ball, which forced Pluhowsky to get the first two in the 10th to win. Pluhowsky threw the ball through the face, leaving a single pin to lose.

"I led the whole tournament and I just wanted to seal the deal," Greene said. "All I could think about while watching Shannon was the bad shot I threw in the 10th frame because it was probably my worst shot of the game."

Pluhowsky advanced to the championship match by defeating Kelly Kulick (left) of Union, New Jersey, 226-207. Kulick won the opening match of the four-player stepladder, 233-214, over Erin McCarthy (right) in Lincoln, Neb. of Omaha, Nebraska.

Greene earned $10,000 for the title and a spot in the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship presented by GoBowling.com, which will be contested in Arlington, Texas, in September.

 

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PWBA Lincoln Open - Stepladder Finals

Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Neb., United States (Aug. 13-15, 2015)

Championship Round:
1. Amanda Greene, Romney, W.Va., 214 (one game), $10,000
2. Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 431 (two games), $5,000
3. Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 440 (two games), $3,500
4. Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb., 214 (one game) $3,000

Playoff Results:
First Match: Kulick def. McCarthy, 233-214
Second Match: Pluhowsky def. Kulick, 226-207
Championship: Greene def. Pluhowsky, 214-205

 

PWBA Lincoln Open - Match Play Results

Players with position, hometown/country and 16-game total including bonues pins (30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie); top four advance to the stepladder finals, places 5-16 show earnings.

1, Amanda Greene, Romney, W. Va., 8-8-0, 6,564
2, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 12-4-0, 6,547
3, Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb., 10-6-0, 6,436
4, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 7-9-0, 6,390

Missed Cut:
5, Shannon O'Keefe, O'Fallon, Ill., 9-7-0, 6,322, $2,000
6, Stefanie Johnson, Grand Prairie, Texas, 7-9-0, 6,180, $1,850
7, Rocio Restrepo, Louisville, Ohio, 8-8-0, 6,173, $1,800
8, Brittany Smith, Des Moines, Iowa, 10-6-0, 6,144, $1,750
9, Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas, 8-8-0, 6,077, $1,700
10, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Keller, Texas, 9-7-0, 6,070, $1,650
11, Brandi Branka, Momence, Ill., 7-8-1, 6,046, $1,550
12, Diana Zavjalova, Beavercreek, Ohio, 7-8-1, 5,994, $1,500
13, Jacqueline Carbonetto, Blauvelt, N.Y., 8-8-0, 5,938, $1,450
14, Jasmine Snell, Papillion, Neb., 8-8-0, 5,854, $1,400
15, Katherine Sutphin, Mount Dora, Fla., 5-11-0, 5,853, $1,350
16, Samantha Schaden, Baltimore, Md., 4-12-0, 5,615, $1,300